(Radio Iowa) – Senator Joni Ernst — chair of the “DOGE” Caucus in the U-S Senate — says she was stonewalled and threatened by U-S-A-I-D staff when she asked questions about how humanitarian aid was being spent in Ukraine. “It is a nightmare to trying to follow that money and to understand what it is actually being used for,” Ernst said. Ernst made her comments during a conversation with Elon Musk that was broadcast live on X, the social media platform Musk owns.

Ernst says it took six months of negotiations with U-S-A-I-D before her Senate staff was allowed to see even limited data about U-S-A-I-D spending in Ukraine. Ernst says they found between 50 and 60 percent of the agency’s money was spent on overhead rather than direct assistance to individuals.

“We love to feel good about helping starving children in ‘name your country,’ but it’s not going there,” Ernst said. “It’s going to pay rents in Paris. It’s going to support somebody’s fancy dinner to entertain whoever.” Musk interjected affirmations throughout her remarks, concluding with: “100%.” Last summer, Ernst accused U-S-A-I-D of payroll fraud. Ernst says Musk, with President Trump’s blessing, has made the right move in shutting down U-S-A-I-D, so every dollar can be scrutinized.

“We all know there are going to be bumps along the way, of course there are, because we’re moving at the speed of relevance here,” Ernst said, “but we’ve got to get in there and make an impact so that our constituents can actually see the benefit.” Ernst says without aggressive moves to reduce government spending, there’s a danger Republicans could lose majority control of the House and Senate in the 2026 election and Trump’s agenda would be dead in the water in the second half of his current term.